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What book did you just start?
By Stephanie · 3501 posts · 467 views
By Stephanie · 3501 posts · 467 views
last updated Feb 27, 2024 08:11PM
What Members Thought
I loved this book from first page to last. The story was well-written, interesting and satisfying. Franklin gives an excellent portrait of life in 1980s and then modern day Mississippi and creates memorable characters who will stay with me for awhile. Interestingly, I recently listened to
, which was also set in the deep South, albeit post-WWII. Mudbound is a much more disturbing and violent depiction of racism so it was harder to get through than CLCL, even though all racism makes me sick t
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, which was also set in the deep South, albeit post-WWII. Mudbound is a much more disturbing and violent depiction of racism so it was harder to get through than CLCL, even though all racism makes me sick t
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I enjoyed this book, but it took awhile to get going and then the ending was very predictable. Maybe I shouldn't have read this right after Defending Jacob, that book packed a powerful ending.
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I read this in 2011 and gave it only three stars which for me indicates just a so-so book. A friend of mine recently gave it five stars on Goodreads so I decided to give it a second try. I don’t remember what my thinking was back in 2011 but this time I really enjoyed the book.
Larry, a white boy and Silas, African American are friends for time when they are young but time passes, life happens and a rift appears which seems destined to never be repaired. When the two boys are grown men in their ...more
Larry, a white boy and Silas, African American are friends for time when they are young but time passes, life happens and a rift appears which seems destined to never be repaired. When the two boys are grown men in their ...more
In this haunting and atmospheric Southern gothic, Franklin brings small-town Mississippi to life in sharply focused, spare prose, providing an incisive portrait of a troubled post-segregation Southern community juxtaposed with today's racial realities. Franklin's flawed, but deeply sympathetic, characters propel the story while they reveal, in painful detail, the suffering that otherwise good people can cruelly inflict on one another. Though the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette considered the narrative c
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Really fantastic book that I definitely recommend! This is a very accessible but very smart mystery with a strong sense of place. The characters are complex and captivating! Really great read ... very satisfying and compelling! I'm a big fan of southern fiction and this one is a standout of its genre! Although the mystery aspect of the novel is expertly done, it is the characterizations of the two primary characters that really make this book stand out for me. I was expecting something a bit mor
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Slow start, but rewards in the end.
Larry Ott and Silas "32" Jones were boyhood friends, who drifted apart in high school. Larry went on a date with a girl to a drive-in movie, but the girl did not return home and was never heard from again. Larry was never arrested, as there was no proof. Silas moved away shortly after and the two did not speak again until years later. The years between were hard and solitary for Larry, "Scary Larry" the locals called him. He was once again under suspicion when ...more
Larry Ott and Silas "32" Jones were boyhood friends, who drifted apart in high school. Larry went on a date with a girl to a drive-in movie, but the girl did not return home and was never heard from again. Larry was never arrested, as there was no proof. Silas moved away shortly after and the two did not speak again until years later. The years between were hard and solitary for Larry, "Scary Larry" the locals called him. He was once again under suspicion when ...more
I would have rated this book 3.5 stars. On the whole it is well written with good characterization but for me the first half dragged a bit. In the second half things moved at a pace that for me made it more interesting. An interesting mystery combined with an outline of the impact of racial tensions in the American South.
This book is supposedly a mystery, but I didn't see it as one. Yes, the story revolves around the disappearances of two teenage girls, one in the 1970s, and one in present day. Solving these crimes, however, isn't the focal point of the novel. Rather, the story is more of a character study of two men, Larry Ott and Silas Jones, and the effect that these disappearances have had on their lives. These two main characters are what make this story worth reading. Franklin really gets the reader entren
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Wow. Fantastic storytelling, best book I've read in a long time.
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A young lad takes a girl, who is his friend, for his first date. She already has a boyfriend and is only using Larry as her alibi to get to see him. She never returns and Larry lives for decades as the chief suspect in her disappearance. Many years later another girl disappears and many suspect Larry and point to similarities between the two.
Franklin writes a tight novel keeping the suspense building. Several unexpected revelations add to the deliciousness of this novel.
Franklin writes a tight novel keeping the suspense building. Several unexpected revelations add to the deliciousness of this novel.
Pretty good book, but I didn't particularly think it was award-worthy or anything. The murders kind of take a backseat to the more personal situations with the two main characters. And the denouement was just a little disappointing. Worth a read, but not the best ever.
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For my book club. My prediction is that we won't be able stop talking! Race relations, family dynamics, guilt, innocence, murder, redemption in a small town Mississippi. Powerful setting - brought back memories of my short 18 month stay in Lousiana 1995-96.
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Loved it! Definately a good read :)
Really did not see anything special about this at all.
Dec 19, 2010
Glenn
marked it as to-read
Jan 03, 2011
Kristina
marked it as to-read
Jan 17, 2011
Wendy
marked it as to-read
Jan 22, 2011
Paula
marked it as to-read
Jan 23, 2011
Jamaie
marked it as to-read
Apr 19, 2011
Bronwyn
marked it as to-read
Apr 24, 2011
Jean
marked it as to-read
